Saturday, 29 November 2014

Implementation of OROP: Defence Minister has responded to a letter from Mr. Chandrasekhar, MP

Friday, November 28, 2014

Responding to a letter from Mr. Chandrasekhar MP about the delay in the implementation of OROP, the Defence Minister has responded reaffirming the commitment of the Government on OROP and has stated that modalities are being examined with the highest consideration.

This is in continuation
of my predecessor’s DO letter No. 1531/VIP/RM/2014 dated 13.06.2014 in response
to your letter dated 09.06.2014 regarding the issues concerning Welfare of Armed Forces
Veterans and their families.

The matter has been examined.
The Government is committed to the implementation of
the principle of One Rank One Pension. The modalities
for implementation are presently under consideration. The definition of OROP as mentioned in para (a)
of your letter is the same as has been conveyed to CGDA. A Working Group was
set up under CGDA with
representation from the three Services and concerned Departments of Ministry of
Defence which had several rounds of discussions on the
modalities but were unable to reach a consensus. I
assure you that the matter is receiving our highest consideration.

The matter regarding construction of a
National War Memorial is being processed on priority. Regarding National
Commission for War Memorials as M/o Defence has no policy to
set up or support war memorials at regional level,
there is no proposal to constitute such a Commission.

The Government has
created the Department of Ex. Servicemen Welfare in the Ministry of Defence in
2004 in order to pay focused attention to the welfare and resettlement of ESM. It is mandated to formulate
and implement various policies and schemes for the welfare and
resettlement of Ex. Servicemen in the country. The
main focus is on the welfare of Ex. Servicemen and their dependents, ESM
resettlement through pre and post retirement training,
re- employment, self-employment and
health care. The tasks are being undertaken through the Directorate
General Resettlement,
Central Organisation ECHS and Kendriya Sainik
Board.

The State Governments are also obliged to cater
to the needs of ESM & their widows and have set up
Zila Sainik Boards & Rajya Sainik Boards for the purpose. They are providing
various benefits to them.

There is, therefore, no proposal to introduce
an Armed
Forces Covenant.

Congratulations on assuming the office of the
Defence Minister of India.

You are well aware of
the service and sacrifices made by our Armed forces
personnel who are protecting the nation at the borders
as well as fighting enemies within. Through this letter, I would like to draw
your attention to some of the important issues concerning the welfare of our Armed Forces
veterans, which need to be addressed at the
earliest.

1. One Rank, One
Pension (OROP)

There is an urgent need for the new government
to address the concerns and apprehensions of the large Veteran and Ex-Servicemen
community about a decision taken by the UPA government on the implementation of
OROP.

a) The Order issued by
the Ministry of Defence to the Controller General Defence Accounts (CGDA) dated
26 February, 2014, on the implementation of OROP, does not mention the accepted
definition of OROP i.e., "OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces
personnel retiring in the same rank with the same
length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and any future
enhancement in the rates of
pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This implies
bridging the gap between the rate of pension of the current pensioners and the
past pensioners, and also future enhancements in the rate of pension, to be
automatically passed on to the past pensioners".

b) The Order does not mention the execution
order i.e., "pensions of past defence retirees will be equal to that of a
person with same rank and length of service and same group retiring w.e.f. 01
Apr 2014, and future enhancement in the rates of
pensions will be automatically passed to the past pensioners”.

Given the past experience, the Veterans,
ex-servicemen and their families fear that failure to clearly define OROP in
this Order to CGDA will open the issue to wrong interpretation.

Therefore, I urge the
Government to issue a further explicit clarification to the Defence
Ministry’s order to CGDA on the points raised above, at the earliest.

2. National Military Memorial in Delhi and a National
Commission for War Memorials of India

The long standing
demand of the Armed Forces for a National Military Memorial in Delhi,
to honour the past, current and future soldiers who serve and lay down their
lives for the country, continues to remain unresolved.

Such a memorial will
be a befitting tribute and a symbol of grateful thanksgiving and honour from the
citizens of the country to these brave men and women of our Armed Forces, who risk life
and limb in their line of duty. It is also a place for the families and
descendants of these heroes to visit and remember with pride and honour the
sacrifices made. Importantly, such a memorial will serve as a beacon of
inspiration to the young and upcoming generation of India - a generation in whom
we are bestowing so much hope for the future of our great country.

Additionally, I also urge
the Government to institute a National Commission for
War Memorials of India - along the lines of the Commonwealth Trust War Graves
Commission - to address the pathetic situation of the war memorials in existence
in the country - at the earliest.

3. Armed Forces Covenant

The nation's commitment to respect and support
its Armed Forces is an unwritten pact between society and the Armed Forces, and
this pact has been reinforced by custom and convention since time immemorial.
Centuries ago, Kautilya, the great political strategist, wrote to Chandragupta
Maurya on the importance of having a pact between society and military: ”The
day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day for Magadha. For
then on that day, you will have loss all moral sanction to be king”.

Therefore, the country needs to demonstrate its
commitment to the well-being of the members of our armed forces and their
families. It is the duty of the nation to ensure that the Armed Forces
personnel and their families have the support they
need and are treated fairly and with the dignity and respect that they
deserve.

As you are aware, a
military covenant is an agreement under which the state pledges a duty of care
towards its military personnel in return for the
sacrifices that they make, The covenant officially applies only to the Army, but
its core principles are taken to extend to the Air Force and the Navy.

The Government should
seriously consider introducing an Armed Forces Covenant. As I had mentioned in
my letter to you dated 05 June, 2014, l have introduced a Private Members' Bill
which the government could consider adopting as a
Bill/law. Such a law/legislation would instill a sense of encouragement in the
personnel of the Armed Forces, and will go a long way
in assuring them that the nation truly values their sacrifices &
services.

The Armed Forces constitutes a truly unique and
dedicated group of people, whose sense of selfless service, duty and nationalism
is a matter of great pride and dignity. These proud men and their families have
served our nation selflessly, with a certain belief that the nation and their
people will look after them when their turn comes to be looked after.

I urge you to look into and resolve these long
pending and rightful demands of our Armed Forces and veterans, at the
earliest.

2 comments:

The hangover of the colonial past in the political leadership is yet to overcome the negativity of the military inspite almost losing Assam and J&K in early sixties.The Military has to rise to the occasion and promote themselves in schools, colleges,universities and even in states & the central government. There is no point blaming others if the military can not promote themselves . Start with getting rid of the cantonment syndrome and identify the main stream

What is stopping the military from constructing their own national warmemorial in Delhi Cantt or is that Military are waiting for modalities to be worked out after in principle approval! Best alternative would be to inscribe the names of those killed in the battlefields on the boundary walls of the Rajghat After all the Military is an attached office and not class one